Frozen Youth Part 2
by theatreguy2294
Summary: Nine years have passed and Erik is now a young boy. He discovers something extraordinary about himself and has a lot to learn as he grows.


FROZEN YOUTH

PART 2: SNOWY DAYS

Nine years have passed since Erik came into Elsa's life. He was now an eager young boy, always looking for adventure wherever he could find it. Like any boy, he came home with scrapes and bruises, but simply laughed and had fun. He had no royal duties yet, so he lived a life of ease as a little boy. No worries about treaties with neighboring kingdoms, no troubles with sustaining a kingdom. He was happy to just be!

One morning in particular saw a bit of a change for Erik. It was early one summer morning. Erik woke in his room shortly after the sunrise ready to get out and explore. He grabbed his pack, laced up his boots and ran down stairs. As he headed out the door, he was abruptly stopped by his mother. Elsa looked down at her son with a light smirk. "Headed out in a hurry are we?" she aksed.

"Yeah," he replied "I saw this cave down by the bay and I wanted to…"

"I'm sorry Erik, but I have something for you to do today."

"Huh? What is it, mother?"

"Your uncle is splitting some lumber and would like your help."

Erik gave a annoyed whine. "Aww, why? Can't someone else do it?"

"No. You cant be out and about doing whatever you want. We need your help around here. If you are going to be king someday, you need to take some responsibility. Please, Erik, this is very important."

"Alright I guess."

Elsa gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Erik. Now run along. Uncle Kristoff is waiting."

Erik walked out the door with a bit of a grunt. He had no interest in working when there was o much fun to be had. But he did enjoy spending time with Kristoff. His uncle always knew how to make him laugh. He walked toward the back side of the castle and found his uncle hitching his reindeer, Sven up to a wagon. He walked over to the wagon to greet his uncle. "Good morning, Uncle Kristoff." He said.

"Hey there, buddy. You ready to head out?" Kristoff wore a dark green shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His wool pants were held up by a pain of leather suspenders and his boots were worn, but still strong. He looked down at Erik waiting for an answer.

"Yeah I guess so." Erik said.

"Aw come on, bud. We got work to do!"

Kristoff picked up Erik and placed him on Sven's back. Erik loved being around Sven. As a little boy, he would always be given rides and such. He was as much a friend as he was family. Erik scratched Sven's head behind the ears and Sven gave a satisfied grunt. Kristoff finished loading gear into the wagon and the headed off toward the mountains.

Their first hour was fairly simple. While Kristoff did the hard work of chopping down some trees, Erik was charged with collecting twigs and fallen branches. It was boring and tedious work. After each armful, he had to run back to the wagon and tie up the twigs into bundles. After that first hour, Kristoff had cut down a sufficient number of trees and it was now time to start cutting.

Erik was carrying over his last bundle and was about to tie it off when he noticed something strange. The sticks became cold and fused together with ice. Erik thought to himself. How could they freeze in the middle of summer? This was not the first time this sort of thing had happened either. He remembered that during his weekly music lesson, a sudden cold shiver ran through the bow of his violin. But this was stronger.

He quickly released the bundle into the wagon and went to Kristoff's side. Kristoff patted him on the shoulder. "You ready to start cutting?" he asked. Erik nodded and Kristoff grabbed the cross-cut saw. "Okay," he said. "Now you take that end and when I start, we just gently push and pull the saw." Again, Erik nodded. Kristoff placed the saw into one of the pre cut notches and Erik grabbed the other end. "You ready?" called Kristoff. "Let's go!"

The two slowly began to move the saw back and forth across the grain of the wood. About a quarter of the way through, they began to pick up the pace and quickly zipped through the first section. They moved onto another and repeated this several times over. Once the trees were cut into segments, the two decided to take a brief break. They sat down on one of the logs and drank some water. Kristoff quickly finished his and relaxed with a great big sigh. Erik brought the canteen to his lips and began to drink. But once the water hit his lips, it became ice cold and froze to the opening.

Without hesitation he removed it from his mouth and set it aside. After a few minutes, the two got back up and began loading the logs into the cart. Now Kristoff did most of the loading, while Erik loaded the gear. As Kristoff tied down the logs to secure them to the wagon, Erik picked up some of the tools. His uncle had already put sheaths on the sharp tools to keep Erik from getting hurt. The last tool Erik grabbed was the axe. It was heavier than he anticipated and he almost dropped it. While Kristoff hitched Sven back onto to cart, Erik was about to put back the axe. In a flash, the axe froze solid. It was coated with a layer of ice at least two centimeters thick. In a panic, Erik tossed it in the back and went to the front of the cart. Erik placed his hands in his pockets and kept them there. He was placed on Sven's back once more and they made their way back to Arendelle.

They arrived back in Arendelle late in the afternoon. Kristoff unhitched the wagon and sent Erik home, thanking him for his help. Erik ran back to the castle quickly and went directly to his room. He sat on the floor and simply stared at his hands for five minutes straight. How could this be happening? He knew about his mother's powers, but could he really have them too? And if he did, why did all of this happen randomly? All of these thoughts running through his head began to make him nervous. Then there was a knock at the door.

Elsa slowly opened the door to find her son sitting on the floor staring at his hands. He glanced up at her and some tears ran down his face. Elsa quickly ran to his side thinking he had hurt himself while working. "Sweetie, are you alright?" she asked. She looked over his hands and found that they were fine. She started to feel them, but he quickly pulled away. Elsa was puzzled. "What's wrong, Erik?"

Erik sniffed a bit. "I-I don't know. I touch things a-and they go c-cold. I-I thought I m-might have powers like you b-but….I can't c-control it. I'm scared, mother." Elsa sighed gently and held her son close, wiping his tears and stroking his hair. She then spoke in a soft, soothing voice.

"It's alright, sweetie," she said. "I thought this day would come sooner or later. You do have powers like me. But I had the same problem at your age. Control comes with time. Now I waited far too long to learn to use my abilities, but I won't make that mistake with you."

"What do you mean?" Erik asked.

"I will help you control these powers. We will add it to your lessons and soon you will be able to do everything I can. This is a good thing, Erik. There is no need to be afraid." She continued to hug him and soothe him.

Erik sniffled and hugged her tight. "Okay, mother. I will try."

The next few months were spent studying and practicing. While Erik did take on more responsibilities and chores, he spent more time with his mother learning how to use his powers. But there were times where his powers would just slip out and random objects would freeze in his grasp. So like his mother had, he had to wear gloves until he had total control over his powers. He found it increasingly difficult to do certain things with the gloves on. One evening in the fall, Erik sat with his mother in the lounge by the fire. She was reading and he was trying to practice his violin, but the gloves hindered him. Out of frustration, he pulled off his gloves and threw them across the room.

"Erik!" Elsa scolded.

"I'm sorry, mother. But I can't play right with the gloves! I know I can do it this time!"

Elsa took a deep breath. "Alright, let's see if you can do it without it freezing again."

Erik nodded and slowly reached for his violin and bow which he had placed on an armchair. He grabbed the neck of the violin and brought it to his shoulder. Nothing had happened so he was a bit more confident. He then took his bow and lifted it to the violin. Elsa watched her son carefully with hope and excitement in her eyes. Erik ran the bow across the strings and nothing happened still, aside from the sound of the instrument. Full of excitement from the lack of freezing, Erik played and played for a good ten minutes. When finished he set the violin down and jumped up and down with excitement. "I did it! I did it!" he cried.

"I am so proud of you!" said Elsa. She hugged her son tightly, happy for the progress he had made with controlling his powers. When she opened her eyes, she could not help but giggle. Erik asked what she was laughing about and she turned him around. She pointed out the window to show that it was snowing. Though the violin did not freeze, Erik's excitement had caused a light flurry. They both shared a laugh.

More time went on and Erik became more and more confident with controlling his abilities. He often showed off to his younger cousins. As it turns out, Anna and Kristoff ended up with two beautiful twin girls. They were named Catherine and Emilia. Though they were only six months younger than Erik, he still saw them as little cousins. Of course, six months is a long time at that age. He would freeze small ponds and skate with them, have snowball fights in the middle of summer and make sculptures of ice out of thin air. They loved it and he loved the attention. One afternoon, Catherine and Emilia met Erik just outside the palace. They ran up to him and greeted him happily.

"Hey, Erik!" called Catherine.

"Hi, girls!" he replied.

The two were wearing similar dresses in different colors. Catherine wore a soft burgundy and Emilia a dark green. They both shared features identical to their mother's including Anna's auburn hair. The only difference was that they had Kristoff's light brown eyes. They ran up to Erik and asked if he was finished with his studies for the day. He was and was ready for whatever fun ideas they had in mind.

"We were wondering if you wanted to go ice-skating." Emilia squeaked.

"But how are we gonna do that?" Erik asked sarcastically.

"Oh come on. Don't play games, Erik" groaned Catherine.

"Okay, where do you want to go today?" he asked.

"We wanna try something different. Can you freeze the street?" asked Emilia

"Hmm, I think so," thought Erik. "But isn't that a little dangerous?"

"Oh we'll be careful." Catherine assured.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" said Emilia.

"Okay, okay," said Erik. "Let's do it!"

The three ran into the town square where everyone was out and about. Women were gathering food for supper and men worked in their shops. The kids reached the center of the square and stood next to the fountain. Erik focused real hard and placed his hand on the ground. A small portion of the cobble stone square quickly iced over and they began to skate. This attracted the attention of more and more children. Wanting to include everyone, Erik expanded the ice, doubling the size.

At least a dozen children were now skating around the square. They laughed giggled and had the time of their lives. Many of them had never skated in autumn before. But the ice continued to expand. It expanded to the point where the entire square was a sheet of ice. Soon, villagers began to slip and slide across the square, falling over left and right. Erik noticed this and quickly stopped. There were some screams and yells; people wondering how the ice came to be.

Suddenly the ice receded and vanished. Confused, Erik looked around to see how this was happening. The children suddenly moved out of the way revealing Queen Elsa. She stopped waving her hand to get rid of the ice and looked over at Erik. She had a look of disappointment and anger on her face. Her stare sent a shiver through Erik and he knew he was in trouble. Then Elsa spoke in a firm tone. "Erik, come with me, now!"

"Y-yes, mother" he replied.

Erik followed closely behind his mother. A cloud of shame hung over his head as he passed by disgruntled villagers. He passed by Catherine and Emilia who were being held by Anna and Kristoff; both very upset. They were silent, but their faces read "I'm sorry." They stepped back into the castle and the doors closed with a slam that echoed through the halls. Once they were in the lounge, Elsa had her son sit and she spoke to him. "Erik, I am very disappointed in you. What were you thinking? Someone could have gotten hurt!"

"I'm sorry, mother," he said softly. "Catherine and Emilia suggested it and I thought…"

"Don't try to put this off on them." She snapped. "You could have just as easily said no."

"I never meant to cover the whole square. It was small at first. But more kids wanted to play so I made it bigger and well…I couldn't stop it! I'm sorry, mother."

Elsa sighed and sat down next to him, holding her head in her hands. She knew that he still did not have full control over his powers, but he should have known better than to do something like this is an enclosed space. She looked at Erik and spoke to him in a softer tone. "I understand you wanted everyone to have fun, but you should have thought twice about where to do this. I hope you can learn to think about the consequences of your actions before you do them."

"I will. I promise. I'm really really sorry. I didn't want to hurt anyone." he assured.

"I know. Come here." She opened her arms and hugged him closely. Erik had learned so much in the past few months. He was becoming more responsible and better understood his duties as prince. He was also learning to better control his powers with each passing day. As it turns out, Elsa was slightly glad that this incident occurred. It gave him another opportunity to learn and grow. He was a great son and she could not be more proud that he came into her life that fateful night.


End file.
